Railroad-rail chair



(No Model.)

M. LEWIS. RAILROAD RAIL CHAIR.

No. 590,108. Patented Sept. 14,1897.

A TTORN E Y8,

ma mmms vzrzns co, mom-mum, WASHINGTON o Mrs TArEs MAURICE LE Is, or wEs'r GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-RAIL CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,108, dated September 14, 189 7. Application filed May 28.1897. Serial No. 638,543. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MAURICE LEWIs, of W'est Grove, in the county of Chester and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and Improved RailroadRail Chair, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact de scription.

This invention relates to chairs for the support and connection of railroad-rails with the cross-ties, and has for its object to provide a novel device of the indicated character which will afford a sufliciently elastic cushion be tween the rails and cross-ties to neutralize the shocks due to the rapid travel of heavy trains over the rails, and thus conduce to the longevity of the railroad, as Well as that of the rolling-stock which traverses the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cheap and highly-efficient cushioned chair for railroad-rails,and which is especially well adapted for service where stone crossties are utilized as a part of the road-bed, the improved rail-chairs obviating the objectionable rigidity and percussive action between the rolling-stock and the rails incidental to the employment of stone cross-ties or masonry as part of the road-bed.

The invention consists in the employment of a series of superposed metallic sheets or plates as a cushioning medium for each chair,

and further consists in the peculiar construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claim. it

Reference is to be had to the accol'npanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a railroad having the improvement applied. Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view essentially on the line 2 2 in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1.

In carrying into effect the features of improvement, A indicates a railroad-rail, and B cross-ties, which are formed of any suitable stone of natural formation, or they may be composed of matter of an appropriate character molded into form so as to produce artificial-stone or composition ties of proper strength, dimensions, and form.

As usual in the construction of railroads,

clearly represented in Fig. 2.

described is located between a rail A and each cross-tie 13, the chairs being provided in sufficient number for such purpose.

Each of the improved chairs mainly comprises a superposed series of rectangular-contoured and quite thin metallic sheets or plates to. On the series of sheets a composing each chair a'substant-ial metallic cap-pieceb is imposed, and may advantageously be furnished withdependingsideflangesb. The cap-piece b is of such relative dimensions with regard to the sheets a that the flanges b will loosely embrace the side edges of the upper sheets, and the length of these assembled parts should be su'tficient to permit the complete chair to project a proper distance ateach side of the rail-base, as shown in Fig. 2. The cap-piece b and plates or sheets a havealined perforations formed therein, one perforation being near each endof the same.

Suitably-spaed perforations are produced in each tie B, near each end for the reception of clampingbolts 0, which pass upwardly through the tie and also through the chair, engaging the perforations of the latter, as

The bolt'holes formed in the tie B are somewhat larger in diameter than the thickness of the clamping-bolts-O, so as to leave an annular crevice 0 around each bolt-body, for a purpose which will presently be. explained.

The upper end port-ions of the clampingbolts 0 project above the chair cap-piece 6, adjacent to the side edges of the rail A, when the latter is in correct position on the chairs and ties, and over these ends of the bolts, Which are thread ed and provided with threaded nuts D, clamping-platesE are placed, the latter being perforated in termediately of their ends to facilitate such a disposal of the clamping-plates. The outer ends of the clampingplates E rest upon the cap-piece b, and at their inner ends said plates bear upon the baseflange of the rail A.

The portions of the clamping plates E seated upon the rail A are preferably offset, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, whereby a shoulder -is formed on each of said plates, adapted to bear upon the outer edge of the base-flange of the rail and hold said rail from lateral displacement when the nuts D are adjusted to draw the clamping-plates forcibly upon the rail-base and the cap-piece b.

. In the production of metallic sheets such as a there are always slight inequalities or pits and projections thereon, whichprevent the compression of a series of such sheets into a solid condition, so that the support afforded the track-rails A by the chairs which have been described is of a slightly-elastic nature, the resilience of the piled sheets as a mass being sufficient to absorb the percussive shocks resulting from the imposed weight and rapid movement of the rolling-stock traversing the railroad.

The crevices c surrounding the bodies of the bolts 0 Whenthe latter are in place within 'the perforations of the cross-tiesl3 are filled solidly with melted lead or sulfur, which will hold the bolts in place and exclude moisture therefrom, so that oxidation of the bolts is prevented.

The sheet-metal plates (L composing each chair may be protected from corrosion by any preferred means, such as surfacecoating them with zinc paint or metallic varnish.

I am aware that prior to my invention attempts have been made to provide a cushioned chair for railroad-rails, but the material being wood blocks or veneers of wood soon become useless for the desired purpose. I therefore do not claim a chair cushioned with one or more pieces of wood.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The combination with a perforated crosstie, bolt-s secured therein, and nuts on the threaded upper ends of said bolts, of a railroad-rail, a cushioned chair therefor, comprising a series of superposed, thin metallic sheets, a cap-piece therefor, and clampingplates resting their heels on the cap-piece, and their toes upon the base-flange of the rail, said clamping-plates receiving the threaded ends of the bolts and being held in clamping condition by the nuts on said bolts, substantially as described.

MAURICE LENVIS.

Witn esses:

EMMOR R. ORIsWELL, JOHN R. STRoDE. 

